understand you. You do not have to invent new kinds of noises, and it is 

 not often necessary to make up new words. 



Man's Shortcomings Man is unquestionably the highest form of Hfe. 

 As a hving machine, however, man is in many ways decidedly inferior to 

 other animals. For example, his skin is much more tender than that of any 

 other animal of his own size, and the hairy covering is not of much help. 

 When he fights, his nails and claws are very poor rivals for those of cats, 

 let us say. And his teeth are not nearly as formidable as are those of many 

 other animals. His muscular development too is inferior when it comes to 

 wrestling with a nonhuman enemy. When it comes to running, whether to 

 capture a rabbit or a bird, or to escape an enemy, man would be easily out- 

 distanced by many of the inhabitants of the forest. 



Seeing, hearing and smelling are very helpful to animals for discovering 

 enemies or food at a distance, and they are also of great value to man. 

 Compared to other animals, man has a very good eye and a pretty good 

 ear — though not one of the best for discovering faint sounds. But man's 

 smelling ability is of very low rank. 



Man and Apes A convenient summary of contrasts between the 

 human family and tlie ape family was made by Dr. Henry Fairfield Osborn 

 (1857-1935), the distinguished American naturalist and anthropologist. 

 The comparisons on page 54 are based on fossil materials and other evidence 

 of former life. They apply not so much to present-day human beings and 

 present-day apes as to the ancient representatives of these two families. 



What Is Unique about Man? 



Man's Advantages In spite of his various shortcomings, man has 

 contrived to hold his own. And some branches of the species have become 

 virtually masters of their environment. His hand and brain seem to have 

 made up for all the important deficiencies. 



Man has made up for his thin skin by borrowing the skins of other 

 animals and by devising substitutes for skins (fabrics). He has strength- 

 ened his arm by means of sticks and stones. He has lengthened his legs — 

 that is, increased his speed — by means of iron and brass. And with other 

 contrivances, he has soared aloft, to rival the very birds. He has pushed 

 his eyesight millions of miles beyond the surface of the earth, and has 

 looked into the world of the littlest things. He can hear the footsteps of 

 a fly (although he does not need to do so either for protection or for food). 

 And he has caught vibrations through miles of space. In every direction 

 man has made up for his organic weaknesses by using his thinking organ to 

 guide his hand. 



53 



